By Amanda Nettles
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — Tonya Hegamin, a writer of young adult fiction, will visit the University of Central Arkansas as artist in residence Nov. 1-2.
All residency activities, including a public reading, are free and open to the public.
Hegamin, assistant professor at the City University of New York, teaches fiction writing, children’s literature and composition in the Medgar Evers College. She is particularly interested in how artist educators encourage innovative learning techniques and holistic teaching through literature.
“Ms. Hegamin is a poet and children’s and YA book author,” said Dr. Stephanie Vanderslice, professor of creative writing and faculty sponsor for the residency. “Her books include Willow, Most Loved in All the World, and M+O 4EVR. She has won numerous awards, including the Martin Luther King Keeper of the Dream Award 2010, New York Public Library Ezra Jack Keats Award 2010 and The Christopher Foundation Medal for Positive Media 2009.”
As part of the residency, Hegamin will give a public reading Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the College of Business Auditorium 107. A Q&A and book-signing will follow.
Other residency activities include a Q&A with a YA writing class in Thompson Hall 331 at 1:40 p.m. on Nov. 1 and a Q&A with MFA creative writing students in the same room at 11 a.m. Nov. 2.
Hegamin will also visit Simon Middle School in Conway from 1-3 p.m. Nov. 2 to meet with sixth- and seventh-graders about being a writer and the importance of reading.
For more information, contact Vanderslice at (501)-450-3340 or svanderslice@uca.edu.
The Artist in Residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information about the program, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail jdmiller@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Music, and Film, Theatre and Creative Writing as well as the School of Communication. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
